To I. F. Armand
И. Ф. АРМАНД. 3 ФЕВРАЛЯ 1917 г.
Date: 1917-02-03
Source: ru:PSS/v49
Translated by: AI (Claude)

...resolution on the military question. (Radek undertook to prepare a draft, but has not delivered it yet.) In my opinion, you must set to work with all your might to succeed by Tuesday in: (1) writing to Geneva and Ch.-de-F., so that for now they take my theses (paragraphs on the military question, section I) as the basis; (2) finding out who will be at the meeting of the youth from French-speaking Switzerland;

(3) "working on," "teaching" them, so that they understand what is the salt and essence of our distinction from (a) social-pacifism and (b) from the "center" (= Grimm and Co.). (Platten has understood nothing at all and does not want to learn.) Our position, in general, = K. Liebknecht, struggle against social-patriotism and the center of one's own country; inseparable connection of the struggle against war with the struggle against opportunism and with comprehensive and immediate revolutionary work for the socialist revolution.

The motives of the referendum, by the way, = the first step of the left platform in Switzerland.

This is N.B.

On Tuesday the youth from French-speaking Switzerland must absolutely present a draft left resolution and fight for it. I have not yet seen the corrections, but I am sure that he is spoiling the matter (reconciling, confusing the disagreements between the lefts and the Swiss social-patriots, and not revealing them. This is the whole essence and the whole vileness of Grimm's articles in "Berner Tagwacht" and in "Neues Leben" about the majority and minority).

Try to get close to the interned Frenchmen, establish correspondence, find connections, found a (secret and informal) group of lefts among them. Very important!

The slogan "mass movement" is not bad, but not entirely correct. For it forgets the revolution, conquest of power, dictatorship of the proletariat. This is N.B.!! More correctly: support and development (immediately) of all kinds of revolutionary mass actions with the aim of approaching the revolution, etc.

Platten = muddler. With Scheidemann or with Liebknecht? he asks, not understanding that Grimm precisely "reconciles," unites, confuses the Swiss social-patriots (Greulich and Co.) and the Swiss "lefts," completely unconscious!!!

You are right: immediately revolutionary struggle against high cost of living, strikes, demonstrations etc. Immediately "go to the people," i.e. to the mass, to the majority of the oppressed, preaching socialist revolution (i.e. take the banks and all large enterprises).

I shake your hand firmly! Your Lenin

to Clarens (Switzerland)

Written February 3, 1917
Sent from Zurich
First published in 1950
In the 4th edition of the Collected Works
Printed from the manuscript